List of all Perth posts

Perthblog

This is the official Perth blog site for posts, comments, and other contributions about leadership, behavioral finance and economics, and about management generally, as well as other related topics that take our fancy.

Voice control is hot. Amazon announced a voice-controlled microwave late last year, in fact it actually works with Alexa, the belle that everyone wants to take to the ball. But voice stuff even now is getting to be passé. Sure, Alexa can take orders and give you replies to everyday questions. But what if Alexa knew if you were angry, skeptical or e...

I don’t have to tell you that Big Data is hot. Almost Godly really. And happiness is a perennial as old as mankind itself. Wouldn’t it be nice if they both played nice together? Why shouldn’t they anyway? These thoughts come from after reading a book by Mo Gawdat, Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy . The author is a Google executive and the...

You might have associated UK Prime Minister Teresa May with BREXIT. But she has another distinction. She appointed the first Minister for Loneliness ever in the UK early in 2018 . At the time I thought it was a weird idea. That shows you how little I know. The current fashionable buzz is about living alone and loneliness. The concern is that living...

Science says you can be 30 years younger, read on! As a runner I keep my eyes out for uplifting articles on the effects of exercise. So recently I was greatly uplifted by this one: “ Regular Exercise May Keep Your Body 30 Years ‘Younger ”. And no, it wasn’t an ad, it was published in August in the Journal of Applied Physiology, by researchers at Ba...

This sounds a little weird right? But the research I am talking about has been published in a respectable journal ( Journal of Neuroscience 22 October 2018, 3360-17 ) by a group of bona fide researchers in Sweden. So, let’s take it on trust for the moment. The research tested two groups, one of which breathed through the mouth and the other throug...

Sigh, I can’t help taking aim at AI. It’s just so fashionable and politically correct. Ask anyone in leadership positions in politics or the private sector what the future is, and they will all tell you seriously it’s all AI, OF COURSE. I have this pressing need to knock down shibboleths, even it they are good ones. So here goes. Here’s my question...

It looks like BREXIT is a mess. It’s fiendishly complicated. I already posted on this in 2016 (“ BREXITed - UK Gain, EU Pain ”). My thesis was that BREXIT would hurt the EU far more than the UK. Now I’ve had more time to consider the issue what’s my lowly opinion now? My opinion last time concerned the short-term, what would happen in the next 5 ye...

The fires in California are tragic with a huge loss of life. I grew up in Australia in the bush and we used to get a lot of bushfires. They are very scary of course but the Australians have built up a hard core of safety knowledge based on bitter experience . I am doing this blog as a public service because I am surprised that none of that experien...

It seems that Americans, especially millennials don’t want to drive any more or own cars. Part of the problem is that the average commuter spends three times as much time in their annual commuting that they do on vacation. Hmmm but how about those Teslas? But I get it. Muscle cars are out; electric vehicles are in. Metrosexuals for EVs right? But h...

You’ve no doubt heard that Venice is flooding due to climate change. Now we know that it’s also being flooded by tourists. As a result, the locals are leaving as the tourists ruin the city with too many people. A similar thing is happening in other tourist cities of the world. Santorini, the Forbidden City, Florence and so on an on. Tourism is rapi...

That sounds like an overly alarmist headline, right? So get this: “ Hyper alarming’ study shows massive insect loss ”. Apparently over the past 20 years insect populations have declined on average 50% and in some cases even higher. We’re all seeing it. Have you noticed that these days the number of love bugs plastered over your windscreen and headl...

Another day another UFO. Did you see the report that one was seen over Myrtle Beach in August of this year? Hmmm, Fox News, maybe it’s fake news? But then again, maybe not. You might have also noticed that three navy pilots tracked a seeming UFO late last year using Raytheon radar mounted in US navy fighter jets. This report was carried by Raytheon...

In the category of believe it or not: “ Zoo Weans Animals Off Fruit Because Its Increased Sugar Makes Them Fat and Rots Their Teeth” . BTW the zoo is in Melbourne, Australia. Are these Aussies crazy politically correct, or just plain crazy? Full disclosure: I’m a card (viz. passport) -carrying Australian. As in Fosters, Australian for beer. G’ day...

You know the Turing test, right? You communicate with a computer by typing and it must guess if you’re a human or an AI. The test has been run for many years. Usually the humans have won but the AIs are catching up. So now some inventive academics (yep, they even exist) have devised a new Turing test; instead of doing a typed conversation you just ...

It's estimated that 20% of Americans have a mental disorder of some kind; BTW that’s 44 million people. Around 70% of youth in juvenile justice systems have at least one mental disorder and at least 20% live with a serious mental illness. Another 20% of State prisoners has mental disorder. Nearly 1 in 2 people – that’s all of us now - will suffer f...

If you’re a teen, or even a tween, not to mention over the hill in your 20s, you will know that vaping is cool ; in fact way cool dude. The King of the Hill in this neck of the cottonfields is Juul , the maker of the market-leading e-cigarette. Of course, it was too good to last. The spoilsports in the FDA not to mention States legal eagles are co...

Facial recognition is hot now. The software is now so good it’s being used for crime prevention and apprehension by law agencies. This is leading to a revolution in law and order as we speak. Did you see the research that links particular types of wrinkles to heart disease? Apparently, these wrinkles are a good predictor. So, what I’m wondering is ...

I’m sure you noticed the recent report about drinking alcohol. It’s based on an article in the Lancet , the British medical journal. Its well-known to be an authoritative source so that gives the report a high level of street cred. In sum, the article concludes that there’s no safe level of alcohol . No matter how little you drink, it carries a def...

Yep I know that I’m raising yet another hair-(sorry) brained idea, but consider it wishful thinking on the part of a hair-deficient yet hopeful male (viz. me). My idea is that climate change will make males like me hairier. That’s why so many males don’t care about – indeed heartily wish for – climate change; the more the merrier. What evidence, yo...

With AIs it’s all about intelligence and smarts. Can they think better than us? Will they make better decisions? And so on. Probably the answer to all of these questions is yes, eventually if not sooner. I’m a (poor and slow) runner so I like to read books about running to see how the really good ones perform. I just read the semi-autobiography of ...